Morpheous 5432' ( attempt )

With another stellar day forecasted I hoped to push the limits of what one might expect to do in mid October. I picked up Onelove1 in issaquah and we were off. The North Fork road was in great shape and we parked at the end of the road just past the Bare Mt trail in short order. It still was cold so we layered up and since it was going to be brushy we added full rain gear. It was cold enough that I wished I would have added gloves. The cold was short lived as the sun quickly warmed things. After 1.5 miles we hit a split in the road and headed right. Soon the road turns into the Lennox Creek Trail. I use the word trail loosely since this trail was never very good and now sees very little use making it unpleasant at times. The trail is muddy, rooty and very narrow and extremely slippery in places. This made the going quite slow. Thankfully the climb isn't steep and isn't very long.

Squak Mt South Access Road 10.12.10

  After yesterday's escapades I had a day to spend with the little ones. I swapped places with my wife and I had the kids for this Tuesday. I had to ferry the youngest to school and then ran some errands with the eldest child. I then returned to pick up the little one and we all had a nice picnic in the warm sun. After taking the oldest to school I asked the little one what she wanted to do. " I want to go on a hike" was her reply. Since we had to go by Squak Mt. on the way home I thought that would be a good test for the 3 year old. When we reached the access road I gave her the option of doing the Pretzel Tree Trail, the trail or the South Access Road. She chose the access road because she wanted to see the princess towers ( the kids name for the microwave towers) on the summit. I really didn't expect too much but the little one was intent on making it to the top. We were able to make it to the 1.5 mile mark before time became an issue. We had a nice talk as we wound our way up the road. The sun was out and fall was definitely in the air. My little one managed to walk most of the way down before deciding that she would be happier perched on my shoulders. I was very proud of my little girl and had a great time today spending some extra time with my girls. It certainly gave me a bigger appreciation of what my wife does on a daily basis.

Approx 3 miles 900' of  climb 1:30 car to car

!!!!!! 5000 Hits. !!!!!!!

After 6 weeks another milestone! I will be curious to see how long it will take to get to 25,000 page views. Looking forward to making the trips that will provide the impetus. I hope that people are finding this blog entertaining as well as informative.

Thanks for reading

Eric

North Fork Snoqualmie wanderings and other misadventures 10.11.10

     Well I try not to take myself too seriously and today is among the many reasons why. I added this map first because this day might have been more productive had I looked at it at some point. I usually am fortunate enough to get out on Tuesdays but this week I wouldn't be afforded that luxury. I work Sunday nights and have a hard time going home and going straight to bed enabling an early Monday morning start. I wanted to be available to the family in the late afternoon and as I stated didn't want to get up early. I needed something close and short. I have been meaning to make my way up Phelps for some time. It is a distinctive looking peak that can be clearly seen from Seattle. There is some confusion about the naming of the peak because most maps mislabel the peak McClain Peak which shares the same saddle but is to the SW. I have read enough reports of Phelps that I felt like I could make the round trip somewhere around 3 hours. The route is steep but it very direct. The plan was to do a variation of the Blackhawk mine route. I wanted to avoid the clear cut which I would expect slow wet and slippery going. The intent was to drive to the end of the spur road instead of heading to the mine. It is reported that the old growth starts there and there is far less brush. Well I had a plan..........